sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Surprising Story Of Where Zinedine Zidane's World Cup Winning Shirt Ended Up Because Of Gerard Houllier

Surprising Story Of Where Zinedine Zidane's World Cup Winning Shirt Ended Up Because Of Gerard Houllier

Zidane scored two goals in the 1998 World Cup final and his shirt from that must be priceless, it's ended up in some very surprising hands.

Zinedine Zidane's World Cup winning shirt is something any football fan would love to have, and it would surprise you which footballer ended up with it.

Zidane is rightly remembered as one of the greatest talents of his generation, and he first cemented he would be a legend at the 1998 World Cup.

The France midfielder starred throughout for the host nation and in the final, amongst all the controversy surrounding Ronaldo's participation, he scored a brace to win the country their first ever World Cup.

That shirt would be absolutely priceless and you'd have thought anyone who got their hands on it would never let it go, but that wasn't the case for Gerard Houllier.

The former Liverpool manager had a good relationship with Zizou and the former Real Madrid boss gave Houllier the shirt, only he then gifted it to Danny Murphy, with the original wearer's permission.

"Gerard Houllier was my manager, as you know, and he had a major influence and friendship with Zidane from his days in France and kept in touch with him over the years," Murphy told Darren Bent on talkSPORT after his fellow pundit asked him about the rumour he had Zidane's shirt.

Zidane heads home the first goal against Brazil. Image: PA Images
Zidane heads home the first goal against Brazil. Image: PA Images

"And one day I’ve gone into the office, it was after I’d been called to the England squad. 

"So I’d been on a journey with Houllier at Liverpool, from being sent back out on loan to Crewe, coming back and getting into the first team as a regular, winning some trophies, and then getting in the England squad. 

"He called me into the office one day and he had a plastic bag, like a Co-op or Tesco bag or something, and he just threw it on the desk said, ‘That’s for you.’ 

"You know when you just think, ‘What’s going on?’ 

"I pulled out the shirt and it said ‘Zidane’ on it, it’s got the World Cup final badge on it. 

Zidane celebrates with fans after winning the World Cup. Image: PA Images
Zidane celebrates with fans after winning the World Cup. Image: PA Images

"He said, ‘Zinedine gave me this after the final, but I want to give it to you.’ 

"I was a bit in shock, so he said, ‘I’ve spoken to him, it’s fine. I told him I’m going to give it to you – it’s a reward for the journey you’ve been on.’ 

"What he explained was that he kind of went on a journey with Zidane… he wasn’t comparing me to Zidane by the way! 

Murphy made his debut against Sweden and went on to play nine times for his country. Image: PA Images
Murphy made his debut against Sweden and went on to play nine times for his country. Image: PA Images

"But it was just kind of a reward from him to give me something to say, ‘Well done.’ 

"To be honest, I’m not a big one for shirts but that one kind of took me back a bit because of the gesture and obviously the importance of the shirt."

I doubt you'd have put money on Zidane's shirt being in Murphy's house...

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Zinedine Zidane, France, Brazil, Football World Cup, Danny Murphy